Tempts fate 10th of June

[Caimera]

https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/page-t2-2025

Here's the new Tempts fate comic! Establishing shot and not a lot else. Wonder how that's going to be overcome.

[Krulle]

And she's making two pages where one page should've sufficed.
(one page per challenge should be the par for TF.)

She's also making the pages too detailed...

We'll have to wait a long while for the comic to update again.

But this is her comic, and she's has announced to switch the focus again to other characters, so this is the best time for a break in the main comic anyway.

[Krulle]

And she's making two pages where one page should've sufficed.
(one page per challenge should be the par for TF.)

Since I have to check Elli's BSky separately, I didn't see this straight away:

Tempts Fate 2nd Challenge... BOOP!

I know I'm supposed to draw 1 page for each challenge but I feel like this deserves 2 pretty pages rather than squish it into 1 poorly made page. So the TF results are going to take longer, just b/c I want to draw more pages. I hope that's ok

making extra pages because the fans were so generous?
Hmm, nope. No déjà-vu.

[RocketScientist]

Well, according to one of the comments on that BlueSky post, anything she does is ok. So...

[Glemp]

I have many questions about how a monster doggie got in front of a cube that takes up the entire hallway but was completely unnoticed until now, and how the cube's owner is able to get around it.

[Krulle]

I also find the "scared, cornered dog" pretty useless.
Yeah, graphically it's interesting, but story-wise ridiculous.
The cube being present is... well, a dungeon? Dungeons are not very logical.
But still, the dog should be attacking to get away from the cube (if feeling cornered), or at least fleeing the scene (for which he must pass TF).

And another two weeks further from the next comic update.

[Generic]

I have many questions about how a monster doggie got in front of a cube that takes up the entire hallway but was completely unnoticed until now, and how the cube's owner is able to get around it.

And why the orc was keeping the cube in a corridor so very far away from him. I think that I, in Tempt's place, would assume I got away from "the puppy" and this thing is an unrelated monster.

Also: Are we're looking at a couple of months till the next page of the actual comic?

[BiggestBlackest]

Also: Are we're looking at a couple of months till the next page of the actual comic?

It’s pretty wild that in the fan community of a serialized adventure drama there’s no one saying ‘oh no, this delay will keep us from finding out what happens next,’ because of course, who could possibly care.

[samharbor]

Also: Are we're looking at a couple of months till the next page of the actual comic?

It’s pretty wild that in the fan community of a serialized adventure drama there’s no one saying ‘oh no, this delay will keep us from finding out what happens next,’ because of course, who could possibly care.

How could they, when she blocks and hides any comments that are anything short of praise spoken in giddy baby talk.

[Krulle]

Also: Are we're looking at a couple of months till the next page of the actual comic?

It’s pretty wild that in the fan community of a serialized adventure drama there’s no one saying ‘oh no, this delay will keep us from finding out what happens next,’ because of course, who could possibly care.

More like: it's so slow already, what does this change?
But then, having some financial issues liften off her shoulders, it should liberate her to be able to work more on this comic.

Also, I am following Outsider. Last new page on the website there was in Oct. 2024, the only page in 2024. And this is still a rather "short" pause for this comic.
But then, Francis runs Outsider as a side project in his life, not as his main source of income.
(And on his Patreon he does update new sketch pages, which converted the comic somewhat into a "pay to read" comic - so we know he still works on it, but just doesn't finish the pages to the quality he wants for the publication.)

[Caimera]

Lord the forums hasn't been this slow in a while. With the normal pages people at least had something to talk about when it came to inter personal relationships. But here there isn't even that. Sucks.

[Krulle]

And an extremely slow updating.
Not story-relevant either.

[BiggestBlackest]

I watched about 30 minutes of the twitch stream last night, just a few observations:

- She said she had promised that once she had ‘double digit’ viewers she would pour a drink with two shots of ‘chockie milk’ (vodka); that turned into three shots in diet sugar-free orange crush

- She was sniffing a LOT, which wouldn’t have stuck out if she hadn’t been sniffing a LOT when I watched a few weeks ago

- She drew & erased a few lines of the updated logo when I first logged on, then started talking about her preferred method of DMing (maximal prep for player verisimilitude, honestly struck me as incredibly inefficient but to each their own) and never got back to drawing

- A LOT of very fast-talking urgent speech

- She talked about how she expected to have ‘hangxiety’ the next morning - the combination of a hangover and worrying about what you said the night before

- Anything you type into the chat is read aloud in her room in the worst text-to-speech robot voice I’ve heard in 15 years

Now, as far as I know Elli has never talked about snorting anything or having any relationship with stimulants, so I really don’t know what the constant sniffing is about. Just observing as someone with my own history of drug and alcohol abuse: this looked and sounded like someone who got high before they needed to perform and for whom alcohol really helps take the edge off performance anxiety. This, of course, leads to much less work getting done than you intended, and self-recrimination the next day. Addiction, regret, avoidance of uncomfortable or boring work, needing booze to feel comfortable - these are all things Elli has talked about openly in the past.

Frankly watching it made me feel pretty sad and I would not recommend.

[Generic]

I watched about 30 minutes of the twitch stream last night, just a few observations:

- She said she had promised that once she had ‘double digit’ viewers she would pour a drink with two shots of ‘chockie milk’ (vodka); that turned into three shots in diet sugar-free orange crush

- She was sniffing a LOT, which wouldn’t have stuck out if she hadn’t been sniffing a LOT when I watched a few weeks ago

- She drew & erased a few lines of the updated logo when I first logged on, then started talking about her preferred method of DMing (maximal prep for player verisimilitude, honestly struck me as incredibly inefficient but to each their own) and never got back to drawing

- A LOT of very fast-talking urgent speech

- She talked about how she expected to have ‘hangxiety’ the next morning - the combination of a hangover and worrying about what you said the night before

- Anything you type into the chat is read aloud in her room in the worst text-to-speech robot voice I’ve heard in 15 years

Now, as far as I know Elli has never talked about snorting anything or having any relationship with stimulants, so I really don’t know what the constant sniffing is about. Just observing as someone with my own history of drug and alcohol abuse: this looked and sounded like someone who got high before they needed to perform and for whom alcohol really helps take the edge off performance anxiety. This, of course, leads to much less work getting done than you intended, and self-recrimination the next day. Addiction, regret, avoidance of uncomfortable or boring work, needing booze to feel comfortable - these are all things Elli has talked about openly in the past.

Frankly watching it made me feel pretty sad and I would not recommend.

Well, she DID have some kind of infection going not to long ago. Clogged sinuses were mentioned and treated. Sniffing might be a residue of this.

That being said, Elli does display a lot of concerning behaviour.

[BiggestBlackest]

Well, she DID have some kind of infection going not to long ago. Clogged sinuses were mentioned and treated. Sniffing might be a residue of this.

Ok, that’s good to hear, a sinus infection could absolutely explain a month of sniffles. I regret my implication, thanks for the context.

[samharbor]

Well, she DID have some kind of infection going not to long ago. Clogged sinuses were mentioned and treated. Sniffing might be a residue of this.

Ok, that’s good to hear, a sinus infection could absolutely explain a month of sniffles. I regret my implication, thanks for the context.

I mean, don't regret the implication too much. In the last few days she absolutely has straight up talked about how she's gotten so drunk she felt ashamed and embarrassed about what she said/did the night before, and also talked about taking (and regretting) psychedelic mushrooms to see if it would improve her drawing this last week.

So like, it might not be coke but she is definitely showing a concerning tendency of experimental drugs and alcohol being something she has to do on stream to be fun, but also streaming is the only way she thinks she can be productive, so by extension in order to be productive she seems to think she HAS to do drugs and get drunk to the point of regret in front of the Internet to do her """job"""

[BiggestBlackest]

… also talked about taking (and regretting) psychedelic mushrooms to see if it would improve her drawing this last week.

So like, it might not be coke but she is definitely showing a concerning tendency of experimental drugs and alcohol being something she has to do on stream to be fun, but also streaming is the only way she thinks she can be productive, so by extension in order to be productive she seems to think she HAS to do drugs and get drunk to the point of regret in front of the Internet to do her """job"""

Hah, oh man, her having a bad trip was the most expected thing. Girl, you are not in the proper headspace for your first-ever psychedelic experience, what are you thinking?

(I’m actually pretty curious what she WAS thinking, during the trip I mean. I can only imagine the stuff tucked out of sight in that noggin, to be living like she is and just not addressing so many existential questions.)

I just can’t get over the speed & all-consuming process of marrying June. She has existed for like half as long as your NPC card catalogue, it’s all I can think about!

[samharbor]

(I’m actually pretty curious what she WAS thinking, during the trip I mean. I can only imagine the stuff tucked out of sight in that noggin, to be living like she is and just not addressing so many existential questions.

Probably just freaking out from being hyper aware of her fingers

[Krulle]

These continuous drinking games also worry me somewhat.

During work I have a zero alcohol policy.
It simply interferes too much in anything.
And then even when online streaming?

I seldom am embarrassed for things I did.
The way she posts about things she's embarrassed about, she should rethink her
"what do I share online, and what do I keep private?" policy.
And, to be able to keep that policy, have a "no drugs" policy (alcohol is a drug) when sharing online.

Also, new page still not up.
She has readers who don't come for TF pages.
She might lose those finally when she doesn't turn down the TF "image quality" to spend less time on that, and finally gets on with the storyline. Which means even less readers for ads (while ad turnover reduced the last 5 years drastically - creators get a loss less per ad they roll out) -> even more financial worries.

When Elli was part of the Ferret webcomic network (around LICD webcomic), Lar (creator of LICD) pushed Elli to do at least three pages/week. Everything else is extra.
And if she can't make 3 pages/week, Lar suggested to reduce the quality, or outsource some parts of the work.
She tried outsourcing the shading as well as the texturing of backgrounds, and it did wonders, but the artist she had hire threw the towel, as she offloaded a tad too much on him. But he did teach her the basics of how to do that quickly using the modern tools.
Now we're down to a page every two weeks...

Which is also too slow to fill a paper version to be published and earn money that way.

[RocketScientist]

She tried outsourcing the shading as well as the texturing of backgrounds, and it did wonders, but the artist she had hire threw the towel, as she offloaded a tad too much on him. But he did teach her the basics of how to do that quickly using the modern tools.

And then she tried again with Cheyenne (who was awesome), but she fired him because she wasn't getting enough happiness out of the comic when someone else was the colorist.

[Krulle]

Yeah, but those experts also drove up her style requirement, making everything slower.
I am fully behind the idea she must be satisfied with the result, and if it sucks the fun out of her, if someone else puts on the finishing touches, she has to do it herself.
But she might/could/should (?) also drop back the quality to the lvl it was before she hired the specialists.

A real perfectionist.

She has so many stories and side-stories to tell....
Imagine how many stories Elli could tell if she ran with the artwork of the first coloured page.

(I know she has coloured the other first pages as well for the paper versions, but online it is the first image in colours)

[Generic]

Am I the only one who is really concerned for Elli and June? More so Elli, than June, since she is in her mid twenties. Elli is... 49? 50? About twice the age of June.

The comic is grinding to a halt. We who are really invested are spending the down time talking about Elli rather than her comic. Those readers who are not forum registered wierdos are probably dropping off, now that the comic is moving even slower than before. I fear Elli is bleeding readers she can not afford to lose.

The reason for this donation call (that has completely taken over the update schedule) is that Elli and June are getting married.

And-...

Do they even have like... a home? Are they not currently renting a drafty Air BnB cabin somewhere in British Columbia? Am I mistaken?

Meanwhile, Elli is using drugs to fuel her barely moving work schedule along. (And this work schedule right now consists of a sidetrack that is probably costing her readers).

Yeah, but those experts also drove up her style requirement, making everything slower.
I am fully behind the idea she must be satisfied with the result, and if it sucks the fun out of her, if someone else puts on the finishing touches, she has to do it herself.
But she might/could/should (?) also drop back the quality to the lvl it was before she hired the specialists.

A real perfectionist.

She has so many stories and side-stories to tell....
Imagine how many stories Elli could tell if she ran with the artwork of the first coloured page.

(I know she has coloured the other first pages as well for the paper versions, but online it is the first image in colours)

The art style is not overly complex as is. The characters could use some streamlineing (looking at you, Forgath!) , and Elli is being held back by her insistance on having blood splatters be consistent between panels. But let not kid ourselves. Elli is a slow drawer, but more so she procrastinates. A lot.

[Krulle]

And now she even announced a website design overhaul...

The new Goblins title/logo is finished! This'll be part of the comic's facelift for the 20th anniversary on June 25th!
[can't link image here due to my inability to grab an image link from BSky with iOS]

[samharbor]

On the subject of the wedding...
Was the gofundme even really FOR the wedding, or just for money to survive in general for a few months? Because she bought the rings, but the wedding is going to be in her town at a local park thats open to the public, so presumably free. With a handful of personal friends (which is safe to assume exclusively of June's 20 something discord mutuals) using invites they're making and sending out themselves. No honeymoon planned or elaborate reception beyond hanging out at a bar afterwords.

What did she need 6k for? Even before it went wildly over the expected amount, that was still enough to go on a pretty nice vacation.

It is frustrating that she's pretending this money is for a wedding and not just yet another cashgrab but with a conveniently timed excuse to tug on some heart strings.

She could have at least used the majority of this money to invest in a proper apartment in town where she doesn't have to live blog the family of bears actively trying to hunt them every day.

It's exactly why these fund raisers are so daunting because it's like she's a person on the Titanic with a magic wish granting genie but all she uses it for is to wish for dry towels

[Generic]

On the subject of the wedding...
Was the gofundme even really FOR the wedding, or just for money to survive in general for a few months? Because she bought the rings, but the wedding is going to be in her town at a local park thats open to the public, so presumably free. With a handful of personal friends (which is safe to assume exclusively of June's 20 something discord mutuals) using invites they're making and sending out themselves. No honeymoon planned or elaborate reception beyond hanging out at a bar afterwords.

What did she need 6k for? Even before it went wildly over the expected amount, that was still enough to go on a pretty nice vacation.

It is frustrating that she's pretending this money is for a wedding and not just yet another cashgrab but with a conveniently timed excuse to tug on some heart strings.

She could have at least used the majority of this money to invest in a proper apartment in town where she doesn't have to live blog the family of bears actively trying to hunt them every day.

It's exactly why these fund raisers are so daunting because it's like she's a person on the Titanic with a magic wish granting genie but all she uses it for is to wish for dry towels

You know the answer to this already.

viewtopic.php?t=2338

Estrogen or food. Deleted paypal link. Then Tempts Fate appeared. Now the fundraiser blew up like crazy. I guess that Elli feels oblidged to really deliver something really cool now.

Last time Tempts Fate needed to blow everyone's socks off, he went to hell, Kersplosion for no Reason-ed some monsters, disappeared and had his absense explained by some crudely drawn sketches.

As I said. I am... concerned. What will Elli do in 6 more months?